This invention relates to apparatus for the continuous manufacture of a mixed fodder the constituents of which comprise chopped straw and one or more solid and liquid additives, said apparatus having means for chopping straw supplied in bale form and means for mixing the further constituents with the chopped straw.
As solid additive or additives there may be employed inter alia ground grain, finely sliced beets or turnips, silage, and granulated or powdered concentrates. Furthermore, proteins, minerals and/or vitamins may be added in appropriate amounts. Among liquid additives there is often used molasses which, besides being a readily digestible foodstuff, is highly adhesive and, thus, can act as a binding agent for the solid constituents so that later separation thereof is avoided. It is, however, also possible to use other suitable liquid additives, e.g. based on animal fat. Instead of straw, including straw of grass seeds, hay could be used, and the term "straw" as employed herein includes also hay.
There is known an apparatus of the kind referred to in which the straw bales are comminuted in a straw chopper built together with a fan which mixes the chopped straw with the solid additives and conveys this dry mix through a pipe to a cyclone wherein the solids are separated from the conveying air and then fed into a molasses mixer where molasses are added and from which the finished mixture is withdrawn.
This known apparatus is bulky and relatively expensive due to the several individual devices of which it is composed. The pneumatic transportation of the dry constituents from the straw chopper to the molasses mixer increases the power consumption of the apparatus to a substantial degree, and in addition it involves the risk of undesired separation of the constituents during the transportation whereby the finished mixture as delivered from the molasses mixer becomes inhomogeneous.